


Old Men of Time

by chacusha



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s5e22 Children of Time, Fix-It, M/M, Quark is pissy, and also in deep denial about his feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29757498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chacusha/pseuds/chacusha
Summary: An alternate universe of "Children of Time" with the only change being Quark was on the Defiant too when it was thrown back in time 200 years. Quark sees a possible post-shipwreck future for himself, and it's not at all what he expected.
Relationships: Odo/Quark (Star Trek)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	Old Men of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to JessKo for the beta!

Quark pressed the door chime. There was no response but, undeterred, he entered anyway.

Odo was lying stretched out on his bunk, but he sat up and turned toward the door when it opened. When he saw who it was, he rolled his eyes and grumbled, "What do you want, Quark?"

"Can you explain what's going on? I thought we were headed straight back to the wormhole, and now we've dropped out of warp." Quark threw up his hands in frustration. "Why don't they ever tell us anything?"

Odo stretched out his legs again and returned to reclining against his bed. "I believe Lieutenant Commander Dax had some information she wanted to collect from a nearby planet," he said, staring straight up at the top of his bunk.

Quark let out a noise of exasperation. "Federation types, always poking their noses into whatever catches their interest. It's going to kill them someday. I would have thought everyone would be itching to be going home but nooo..." Quark paused. "If they want to do their time-wasting traipsing through space, fine, but I really wish they would do it on their own time. Some people have actually useful work to do and places to be."

Odo had not said a word throughout Quark's long complaining spiel, not even a word of annoyance, and frankly, he didn't even seem to be listening. "Well, I just wanted to find out what the heck was going on, and it seems like you have barely any more idea than me." Quark ended his rather one-sided conversation and instead studied Odo, who seemed absorbed in his own world. "You okay? Seems like something's eating at you."

"I just found out... Kira and Shakaar broke up," Odo said slowly.

For the love of latinum, not this again. Trying to hide his annoyance, Quark reluctantly transitioned from the role of complainer to empathetic confidant. "So? What, are you going to try to ask her out now that she's single?"

Odo let out a disgruntled noise. "There's no way I can do that."

Quark shrugged. "Then forget her."

"It's not that easy, Quark."

"Yeah, it is that easy. You either have the courage or you don't. What use is it to constantly beat yourself up and be miserable all the time?"

"I just wish--" Odo began, but at that moment, the Defiant shook violently, almost throwing Quark to the ground.

"What _now?"_ Quark demanded, mentally cursing stupid Starfleet and their stupid scientific curiosity.

"Urgh..." From the bed, Odo put a hand to his face and the hand suddenly drooped, dropping away into a blob of golden liquid that fell to the ground. In less than a second, the rest of Odo's body followed and Quark found himself staring at a round puddle of goo on the bed, dripping viscously down the side onto the floor.

"Odo...? Hey, Odo! Can you hear me?" Quark instinctively reached out to touch him but just felt the odd, oozy surface of goo that made him instantly snatch his hand back.

Quark watched the pool of Odo for any motion or sign he was reforming, but aside from slight vibrations caused by the continued rocking of the ship, there was nothing. Trying to keep the panic out of his voice, Quark said, "Quark to sickbay. I think something's happened to Odo."

A couple of minutes later, an ensign arrived, scanned Odo, didn't really know what to conclude from the initial readings and instead suggested they move him to sickbay for more analysis. She scooped the goo into a bag and headed that way. Quark, not knowing what else to do, followed her.

Benjamin had concluded the meeting with the leaders of Gaia and had just left the central hall when he saw two familiar visitors waiting for him outside. The first was easily recognizable as Odo, though he looked odd dressed in the light, casual clothes common in this settlement.

"Odo!" Ben exclaimed, his eyes lighting up as he noticed that time had changed small details in the changeling. Not aged him, exactly -- because he looked roughly the same age as Odo had always looked -- but the details were more sophisticated, more practiced. Then Ben turned to his shorter, large-eared companion, a slight smile forming on his face. "And... Quark? Is that you?"

The Ferengi nodded. Like Odo, he was wearing plain, lightweight clothes quite different from his normal style. Unlike Odo, he had aged, quite a bit. He was still roughly the same height, but there was a slight stoop to his shoulders, and tufts of fine, silver hair coming from his lobes.

"It's been a long time, Captain," Quark said. "I'm glad we hung on long enough to see the original crew of the Defiant again."

"We're the only ones from the original crew," Odo explained. "Aside from the Dax symbiont, of course."

"Well, you both are looking great."

"Thank you," Odo said simply, before getting straight to the point: "Captain, it is my understanding that Yedrin has discussed the possibility of doubling the Defiant when it encounters the temporal anomaly again."

"He has."

"Well, Quark and I would like to make a request. After the Defiant encounters the anomaly and makes it safely past the barrier... would you beam the two of us aboard?"

Ben's brow furrowed in thought. "Gentlemen, are you saying you want--"

"To leave Gaia, yes. We would like to return with the rest of the crew to the Alpha Quadrant. _After_ the encounter with the anomaly, of course. We do not wish to disturb Gaia's timeline."

"Well, I would have to ask Dax whether it's feasible to beam people through the barrier, or if not, whether it's safe to make two extra trips through it. Given how little we know about its properties, I can't make any promises."

"Of course. We understand."

"May I ask why you wish to leave?"

Quark let out a bark of laughter. "Are you kidding? Take a look around, Captain," he gestured at their surroundings. "There's not much profit in living on an agricultural commune. There's no latinum... a _laughable_ amount of trade, and in order to do even that, you have to trade with Klingon roleplayers." He lowered his voice a bit, taking Ben into his confidence. "It truly is a special kind of hell. I may have learned to tolerate it a bit more over the years, but I'm still a Ferengi at heart."

"Fair enough. And you, Constable?"

The older Odo smiled. "Just 'Odo' is fine, Captain -- it's been a long time since I've been a constable. I don't mind Gaia as much as Quark does, but I must admit I've never really fit in here. I've always felt like... this isn't where I was meant to be."

"Whether it's the Defiant or some other ship, we're taking the first ride we can get back to the Alpha Quadrant," Quark said.

Ben took a moment to consider if there were any ramifications of Quark and Odo's request. "Well, aside from the technical issues, I don't see a problem with that," he concluded. "Although I must say, I'm not sure the Alpha Quadrant is a big enough place for _two_ Quarks and two Odos," he joked, his face breaking into an amused grin. "You may want to run this plan by your... younger counterparts, though -- I imagine Quark might not appreciate someone with a second claim to his bar. I believe they're still on the Defiant."

The older Quark smiled a familiar, mischief-filled smile. "We'll see what we can work out."

"One more thing, Captain," Odo added. "Is Nery... I mean, Major Kira still on the ship or has she come to the settlement?"

"She's still on the ship, hopefully receiving treatment." Ben had actually just been about to update Bashir on her condition given what he'd just found out.

"I would like to see her. It's been... a very long time."

"Of course. I should actually be heading back to the Defiant myself. Would you like to come along, gentlemen?" At their assent, Sisko pressed his badge. "Transporter room, three to beam up."

The ensign finished combing over the readings she had collected, comparing them to a second set on another screen. "As far as I can tell, he's fine," the ensign said. "It seems like the quantum fluctuations are interfering with his ability to form a solid body, but otherwise he seems normal. He can probably still hear us, even."

Quark sighed in relief. It sounded similar to when Odo needed to rest in his bucket, not anything life-threatening.

"Once we leave orbit, he should regain his ability to become solid."

With any luck, that would be soon. As Quark still had no particular place he needed to be, he decided to loiter in sickbay. It had some benefits, namely, that the doctor seemed to have a much better idea what was going on now than the other members of the crew and was cheerfully filling people in.

"Apparently, they were sent 200 years into the past," Bashir was saying. "The crew of the Defiant stranded on an uninhabited planet 200 years before the wormhole was even discovered -- can you imagine? The 8,000 people living down there are our descendents! There's apparently quite a few Bashirs down there."

"Really now?" Quark said, intrigued. "You wouldn't happen to know how many Ferengi there are?"

"There's no one with a part-Ferengi genome, if that's what you're asking. But there is one Ferengi."

Well. That wasn't all too bad. Quark hadn't ever particularly wanted children, and even if he was stranded on a deserted planet for 200 years -- which sounded absolutely hellish -- it seemed like it hadn't changed his mind on that point. And at least he was still alive. Not too surprising -- he easily had another 200 years in him, as long as he took care of himself and didn't get into any trouble.

The medbay doors slid open and Major Kira stepped through. "I'm here, Doctor, but honestly, I feel fine."

Bashir set about treating her, chattering pleasantly the whole time. Quark was able to pick up something about neural damage and the need for treatment at DS9, though he had no idea when and where the major might have gotten those injuries.

Bashir finished his examination and a science officer handed off the vat containing Odo to him, which he proceeded to place within the stasis chamber for safe-keeping.

His work done for the moment, Bashir clapped his hands together. "Now, I'm going down to the surface to meet some of my descendents. Coming with, Quark?"

"I'll pass. Meeting an older version of myself would just be... weird."

The doctor crossed over to the door but before he reached it, the doors slid open on their own, revealing two people standing in the doorway.

Quark's eyes widened as he took in the taller one first: Odo, but shockingly wearing casual, short-sleeved clothes, standing there in the doorway despite the fact that the doctor had just finished putting goo Odo into a container.

And on his left was a shorter figure, an elderly Ferengi with drooping lobes, wearing an outfit almost as hideous as Odo's. The only nod to fashion was a precious-metal brooch pinned to the front -- the same one, in fact, that Quark was wearing right now..

"Speak of the devil," Bashir said in a low voice to Quark.

Kira was the first to greet the visitors. "Odo?" she asked, her nose wrinkling in amusement.

The older Odo stepped forward to take a closer look at the major, studying her face with something like wonder. She returned the gaze, taking in the slightly different features of the older Odo's face with open curiosity.

"Nerys," the visiting Odo said, taking her hands in his. "I'm so happy to see you again. It's been... so long." He stood there for a moment before wrapping Kira in a tight hug, taking everyone in the room by surprise, not least of all Kira. His eyes were filled with such tender emotion that Quark felt he was going to be sick.

It was all uncanny: the ever-so-slightly more relaxed way Odo held himself... the open display of emotion... "Nerys." Quark wondered for a second whether this stranded-for-200-years Odo had managed to do what the Odo he had just not an hour ago been talking to had found so impossible, but his thoughts were torn away by the other visitor stepping forward to grasp his hand in a friendly handshake. "And Quark!" he said. "So nice to see me looking so fresh-faced and handsome."

For the hundredth or so time since this mission began, Quark thought about how much of a mistake it had been for him to come along this particular trip to the Gamma Quadrant. Right now, he could have been back at his bar, mixing drinks, bossing around his employees, having a _normal_ day.

"Quark, we have a lot of things we need to talk about," the older Quark said. "Can we talk somewhere privately?"

Quark sighed. "All right."

The older Quark glanced over at Odo who was still in some kind of hushed conversation with Kira. Maybe this Odo and Kira had gotten together, down on that planet, Quark surmised, and this Odo was a widower, confronted again with the sight of their spouse in their prime. That certainly made sense of his body language. Why was that thought so painful?

"Odo, are you coming?" the older Quark asked.

"Yes, I'll join in just a minute, babe," Odo replied, returning to his conversation with Kira.

Or he would have, if Kira was saying anything -- but she along with every other occupant in sickbay was staring at the older Odo in shocked silence.

Bashir was the first to form words. "Erm, I'm sorry, Constable, just now, did you just call him...?" he prompted, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips.

On Quark's part, his jaw was utterly slack. Had that comment been directed to Kira? No, it had definitely been directed at the older Quark. He stared first at Odo, before turning his eyes on the older Ferengi, silently demanding an explanation.

The older Quark sighed, awkward. "Like I was saying, Quark, we have a _lot_ to talk about."

Quark and Quark and Odo took a seat around a table in a nearby meeting room. "So you... you two are together," Quark said, pointing at them. Their lack of uncomfortable reaction at the statement was enough to confirm its truth. "Mind telling me how _that_ happened."

"Probably best for you to tell the story, ba -- uh, Quark."

"Well you see," the older Quark began, leaning back in his chair, "two hundred years ago, just after we'd been sent back in time, Kira ended up dying from injuries she sustained going through Gaia's energy barrier. It took Odo two months before he learned how to take solid form again -- by that time, Kira was already gone and he hadn't even confessed to her. Had never had the _chance_ to, really. It tore him up for a really long time. I spent a lot of time trying to help him through it, giving him a shoulder to cry on..."

"I don't cry, Quark," Odo interjected.

"Metaphorically speaking. He spent a lot of time being moody on my shoulder, and uh... well, one thing led to another. It took, like, eight months, but he finally realized my feelings for him." The older Quark turned to look fondly at Odo. "He was really, _really_ dense back then," he explained, patting Odo's hand affectionately. Odo gave him a warm smile in return. "And we've been together ever since."

Quark considered the story, a sullen frown on his face. The worst thing was, it actually sounded plausible. As a getting together story at least -- it was a bit more difficult to buy that he and Odo would have stayed together for anything approaching 200 years, let alone that it would end up so... cloyingly saccharine. Quark looked at the two with narrowed eyes. "Sounds like a bit of a stretch," he concluded. "How can I tell you're telling the truth anyway?"

The older Quark shrugged. "Well, ask us anything you like. But is it really that hard to believe? Even before we came to the Gamma Quadrant, I already had feelings for Odo."

Quark resented the implication. _"I_ \--I don't have... You must be misremembering." Quark could feel the heat coming to his face. He was glad no other crew members were here.

The older Quark just looked him straight in the eye. "Don't you, though?"

Did he? Did he?! Quark stood up, paced around the room, forcibly pushing the question out of his mind. "There had to have been better options," he rambled. "Two hundred years, 8,000 people -- surely..."

"You shouldn't underestimate Odo's charms. For one, he gives _very_ good oo-mox..."

"Quark..." Odo said warningly.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Quark screeched. "I don't want to hear this!" If he could, he would have quite liked to make like Odo and collapse instantly into goo and spend the rest of this greed-forsaken trip in that state.

The older Quark rolled his eyes. "Was I really this much of a stubborn blockhead back then?" he asked, turning to Odo.

"You were," Odo confirmed, completely straight-faced. "And you still are."

Quark continued to pace back and forth, muttering horrified half-sentences under his breath.

"Anyway, Quark," the other Quark continued, "Odo and I didn't actually come up here to tell you about our relationship, although I suppose you would have found out eventually. We actually came to talk about the possibility of the two of us hitchhiking on the Defiant to return to the Alpha Quadrant."

Quark stopped in his tracks, mouth dropping open. "You want to go back with us?!" He just imagined what it would be like to have this sappy older couple running around the Alpha Quadrant reminding him over and over of his future bad life decisions. This day kept getting worse and worse.

"I mean, have you taken a look at the commune? If you've seen it, you'd understand why I want to leave."

"Oh, I believe you. It's just..."

"You can have the bar if you want. All I want is a clean start so I can earn a bit of profit before I die."

"That's not the only thing I'm worried about." What the hell was he going to tell Moogie when another Quark and his boyfriend showed up for family reunions?

"We'll stay out of your way. Live our own lives in peace somewhere far away."

Quark leaned his head against the wall and sighed heavily. "Well, I guess I can't stop you," he conceded. "Just, please, make sure it's _very_ far away."

There was a moment of quiet before the older Quark spoke. "Was that all we had to say? Should we speak to your Odo too?"

Quark started a bit at the phrase "your Odo" before realizing the other Quark merely meant the Odo from his own timeline. The words had a different meaning now, and Quark tried to push that thought out of his mind. "I don't think that's really necessary..." he said hesitantly.

The older Odo crossed his arms. "I agree. The way he is now, I'd have to link with him for us to be able to speak with him at all. And I'm not sure it would be good for me to pass on my memories like that. Best to leave him for now. We'll have to talk eventually."

"Well," the older Quark said, standing up. "Good talk."

Odo also rose to his feet. "If we're done, I'd like to speak to Nerys a bit more -- maybe show her around Gaia," he said.

"Fine with me," the older Quark said, unfazed by this request. "I should start packing anyway."

Odo leaned down and gave the older Quark an affectionate kiss, and then left the two Quarks alone.

"You're welcome to come with me down to Gaia if you like," the older Quark offered when Odo had gone.

Quark pointed toward the door that Odo had just left through. "Wait, are you really okay with letting him go off on his own like that? What if he tries to rekindle things with Kira?"

The older Quark looked at him, a sly glint in his eye. "Is that jealousy in your voice?"

 _"I'm_ not jealous! I'm just asking if _you're_ okay with that," Quark protested. "He really loved her, you know."

"I know. I remember. But I'm not worried one bit."

"Why not?"

"Because that man loves me."

Nerys walked behind Odo, following the path of slightly bent grass he left in his wake, both of their steps steady and relaxed as they made their way toward the gravesite. The weather was perfect, strong wind blowing the tall grass. "It's beautiful. So peaceful." Not the _worst_ place to die in...

Odo nodded his agreement, and they both lapsed into a somewhat awkward silence.

"So..." Nerys prompted at last, "you and Quark, huh?"

Odo let out a small chuckle.

"I always knew you were more fond of that little troll than he really deserved, but... I'm still a bit surprised."

"Are you... disappointed?"

"No! Not at all," Nerys said quickly. "Just the opposite, I'm really happy for you. You seem really... at peace with yourself. I never thought I'd get to see that."

Odo snorted. "Well, I'm not sure how much responsibility Quark can take for that. But... it's true, he helped. Sometimes."

"There is one thing that has me curious," Nerys said. "Do the Quark and Odo _I_ know... Do they feel that way about each other? Or is it one of those things that could only happen in such an extreme, life-changing situation like this -- you know, like the Chief marrying... Ensign Tannenbaum, was it?"

The older Odo looked a bit uncomfortable as he considered the question. "It's... hard to say," he said at last. "You might say there was perhaps some potential there but far from anything concrete. The chances of Quark and I happening if we hadn't been stranded on Gaia... well, it's not impossible but also far from certain. Somewhere in that broad range." Odo's lips curved into a smile. "And it's probably best I don't speak on this subject too much -- I don't want to say anything that might embarrass the Odo you know. I was... very self-conscious about these kinds of topics back then."

"Oh -- yes, of course," Nerys.said, catching herself. Just earlier today that trait had shown itself. She had been treating this older, more open Odo as a different being entirely, but of course his history was entangled with the Odo of the present. Tempting as it was to pose questions to this easygoing Odo that she would never dream of asking her Odo, it was best to respect Odo's privacy on this point.

"Here it is," Odo said as they drew up to a gravemarker standing by a short tree.

Nerys knelt by the tombstone verifying her name and birth date were written there. What an odd feeling, to be dead and alive at the same time. She knelt in prayer, beseeching the Prophets to help her make sense of this path they had shown her, to help her understand what in her life -- or anyone's -- was possibility and what was certainty.

Quark watched as his older self shuttled from one room to another in the small house where he and Odo lived, gathering the items that he wanted to take with him. Despite himself, Quark found himself curiously making note of the things being packed. To his surprise, his older self did own a couple of suits in the Ferengi style. They were made of coarsely-woven cloth and dyed in simple patterns, but they were otherwise decently made. One of these the older Quark laid out to wear tomorrow while the other he packed away.

The other things had almost no value: basic toiletries, some simple jewelry more for ornamentation than for sale or trading, a few sentimental items. Quark dug one such item out of the bag after his older self had tossed it in there -- it was a photo of Odo and Quark standing in front of a row of buildings. They didn't look much changed from the way he and Odo looked in the present, before coming to this planet, except for the expression on Odo's face. He and Quark were both smiling, eyes bright with mirth.

Quark studied the picture, a frown on his face. He could understand why it was worth hanging onto -- if someone managed to capture Odo displaying a genuine smile like that, even Quark, now, would want to hang onto it for posterity. It just seemed so... rare. The picture was both fascinating and unsettling, its existence making it harder to ignore what his counterpart and the other Odo had been telling him earlier. It made the reality of everything sink in a little bit, even though Quark was still struggling to wrap his mind around it.

"Chief O'Brien's wife took that photo," the older Quark mentioned, as he passed by the doorway.

Quark replaced the photo in the bag and began wandering idly around the house, poking at all the things that were being left behind, like the various cooking utensils in the kitchen that spoke of a much more limited replicator situation.

In the end, the older Quark's possessions barely filled a small bag.

"That's it?" Quark asked.

"Yep. I'll probably want to do another pass later, but that's most of it. And Odo's basically already packed." The older Quark indicated a single bucket in the corner of the bedroom. "He's very low-maintenance."

The sun was slipping low in the sky when Quark and Quark left the house and headed to the town square. No sooner had they entered the square than a couple of children ran up to them. "Grandpa Quark!" one said. "My mom said you and Odo were leaving tomorrow?"

"It's not decided yet. But that's our plan."

Another piped up. "We should throw you a goodbye party tomorrow, then."

"That's a very sweet thought. But tomorrow is planting day. I don't think there'll be time."

The children threw their arms around him. "We'll miss you," one said, while the other wished him and Odo luck in the Alpha Quadrant.

"'Grandpa Quark'?" Quark asked him after they had left.

"Yeah, that's just what they call old people here. That or 'elder' but 'Elder Quark'? Has a weird ring to it. I don't like it."

"They seemed pretty fond of you."

"It's just because I'm their math teacher. I've had that job for... how many years has it been?" He stopped to calculate. "Sixty-something years now."

Quark gave his older self a skeptical look. "You're a bit more integrated here than you let on. You really okay with just leaving it all behind?"

"Unless there's latinum deposits on this planet I'm unaware of... I'm pretty sure. 'Home is where the heart is, but--'"

"The 75th rule, I know, I know. And Odo, what about him?"

"Well, he goes where I go."

"How sweet," Quark said with a roll of his eyes. "I meant, what does Odo do around here?"

The other Quark shrugged. "A little bit of everything. Some farming, some crafting, a bit of engineering when the mood suits him. He gets bored and picks up a new skill every ten or twenty years."

Quark looked around the town square. It was pretty bustling at this hour, reminding Quark somewhat of the promenade on DS9. The people were a bit friendlier, though, throwing him curious smiles as they walked by. It weirded him out. He was used to the more diverse crowd with a more oily sort of friendliness that DS9 attracted. "If you're not the bartender, then who is? _Is_ there a bartender?"

The other Quark wasn't listening, though. He was looking at the meeting hall. "Captain Sisko and Jadzia just went into that building with Yedrin," he observed. "Wonder what that's all about."

Quark found out later that evening: Captain Sisko made an announcement to the crew that the modifications they'd made weren't capable of duplicating the ship. They'd have to choose between leaving the planet safely and preserving the timeline for the inhabitants of Gaia. Solemnly, he announced that the decision had been made to leave orbit safely. Quark almost cried. It was the best news he'd heard all day.

\- Planting day -

The sweat of a full day's work still clung to Ben's clothes as he sat down in the captain's chair. Unsurprisingly, his latest announcement caused a bit of a stir. It only took a few minutes before protest reached the bridge.

"I demand to speak to the captain!" came a shrill voice outside the door.

And then both Quarks were on the bridge and were loudly voicing their discontent.

"Captain, what is this -- this madness? How can we not be heading back to the Alpha Quadrant?"

Ben sighed. There were still more preparations to be made and they did not have time for this. "I've considered the issue from many points of view, with the input from my officers. I don't have time to recap the full set of considerations--"

"I don't consent to this!" the younger of the Quarks said hotly. "And frankly, I'm offended _I_ wasn't consulted."

The older Quark was calmer but just as resolute. "For what it's worth, Captain," he said in a quieter voice, "I also strongly oppose the Defiant marooning itself in this fashion."

Now that was interesting: the first person from the settlement who was in favor of self-annihilation. "If we don't go back, you'll disappear along with the others," Ben pointed out.

"I'm okay with that if it means some version of me never gets stuck in the Gamma Quadrant. It's worth it, easily."

Ben mulled over the new information. He should have known that Quark and Odo would be the wildcards here -- the two beings with direct continuity from the original Defiant. All the other inhabitants of Gaia were descendents, born and raised on Gaia, with no life outside of it. "I have to weigh everything," Ben said at last. It might be easy for the older Quark to opt for annihilation, knowing a younger version of him lived on, but the same could not be said of Gaia's many children. "It's true that you'd be stranded, and trust me, Quark, I understand the detrimental effect on your quality of life -- but at least you'd be alive. The same cannot be said of the 8,000 others."

"What about Kira?" the younger Quark butted in. "What about O'Brien's family at DS9? Or yours, for that matter? They need you; the Federation needs you. _And_ the Defiant."

"Like I said, we have made those considerations. The major and the chief are in favor of this plan."

The younger Quark looked at him in silent shock, temporarily lost for words. "This... truly is madness," was all he managed to say. He looked like he was grasping for some other recourse, but his mental efforts turned up nothing.

"If you have a message you want to send to your loved ones in the Alpha Quadrant, I would suggest recording it soon," Ben said and he turned back to examining the readings on a panel.

With an angry tug at the hem of his jacket, Quark turned on his heel and stormed off the bridge, followed by his older self.

Quark did as the captain instructed, recording a message to go to Moogie and to Rom. It was the same short message. Unlike the chief and the doctor and all the rest, Quark wasn't going to die down on Gaia, so there were no apologies to make about not being able to come back, about leaving their life. All there was to say was, "Get a ship. Go to the planet at these coordinates as soon as you receive this and find me. I might look a little different."

Not sure what else he could do, Quark found himself headed for sickbay. When he arrived, it was empty and dark. "You have any letters to send?" he glumly asked the tub of Odo as he took a seat nearby. It didn't respond, of course. "Well, I guess you had as much input on this situation as I did."

"Are you sure you don't want me to link with him?"

Quark started at hearing Odo's voice in the empty -- or so he had thought -- room. He whipped around and saw the older Odo standing there in the shadows of the dim room. "Odo! Blessed Exchequer, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm sure he'd be a much better conversational partner if I did," the older Odo continued, ignoring Quark's outburst.

"Only marginally," Quark muttered under his breath. Odo's sudden appearance could only be because he had been shapeshifted as something in this room. "What are you doing, sneaking around the ship?"

"Trying to stop the Defiant from taking the wrong course of action. I tried talking to Nerys..."

"Let me guess, you didn't convince her," Quark said sullenly.

"I haven't given up yet. I still have some backup options. Before I try them, though, I wanted to link with him."

"Why? I thought you didn't want to pass your memories along."

"That was when I thought we might both leave this planet -- there was no point. But now, well, I will likely disappear, and when I do, all my memories and experiences will disappear along with me. This is probably the last chance I have to leave a part of myself behind..."

Quark studied Odo. If he was talking about disappearing, he seemed to be pretty confident that there was still a chance to convince the Defiant to not go back in time. "What if Odo doesn't want your memories?" Quark asked. "If I were him, I wouldn't. It's not exactly nice to contaminate someone's timeline. Thanks for that, by the way."

"I don't recall you being against timeline contamination when we visited 20th century Earth," the older Odo said simply.

"I'm against it when it negatively affects me."

The older Odo studied his goo self for a moment in silence. "Perhaps you're right," he said at last. "If you won't let me link with him, can you do me a favor, then?"

"Depends what it is," Quark said, cautious.

"Take care of him... me, I mean," the older Odo said. "And..." Odo leaned in and before Quark realized what was happening, Odo had drawn him into a kiss. A soft and tentative pressing of the lips but the tender sentiment in the gesture was as clear as crystal. For a moment, Quark was so shocked his lungs wouldn't work.

And then Odo pulled away. The shock subsided, leaving in its wake a chaotic mix of emotions -- confusion and protest and a pleasant thrill in his chest and even more confusion at that.

"Remember that. Remember me."

And then he was gone.

"Did you...?"

"I changed the flight plan."

"Will it work?"

"I guess we'll see in a few minutes."

"I guess we will." A pause. "What do you think will happen to them -- to us, I mean? Do you think we would ever... we will ever, if the major is still..."

"If she hadn't died?"

"Yeah."

"I can't say. I guess that's up to them. The future hasn't been written yet."

"Thankfully."

"But it wasn't a bad 200 years, was it?"

"It was awful." A pause. "But... you made it better."

**Author's Note:**

> The original idea for this fic was actually Quark/"Children of Time"!Odo smut but when I kept thinking about it, it kept morphing and eventually turned into this.


End file.
